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are Vs. Were

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by alivapriyada » Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:50 am
Modern-day snakes are believed to evolve from four-legged lizards, but scientists were divided over whether that phase of evolution occurred on land or in the sea; the recent discovery of fossils of a land-dwelling snake with two legs provides new information for the ongoing debate.

A. evolve from four-legged lizards, but scientists were

B. have evolved from four-legged lizards, but scientists are

C. evolve from four-legged lizards, but scientists are

D. have evolved from four-legged lizards, but scientists were

E. be evolving from four-legged lizards, but scientists were


please explain between B and D
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by karanrulz4ever » Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:55 am
As the debate is ongoing,as indicated in the un-underlined part of the sentence, "are" should be used and not "were".
Hence IMO B
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by alivapriyada » Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:58 am
karanrulz4ever wrote:As the debate is ongoing,as indicated in the un-underlined part of the sentence, "are" should be used and not "were".
Hence IMO B
why so???
Any clue???
please explain!!
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by karanrulz4ever » Sat Sep 25, 2010 8:44 pm
The following part of the underlined section says "divided over whether that phase of evolution occurred on land or in the sea; the recent discovery of fossils of a land-dwelling snake with two legs provides new information for the ongoing debate. "This shows that the debate is still on.Hence we should use "are".
Hope it helps!
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by pesfunk » Thu Oct 14, 2010 9:43 pm
B. have evolved from four-legged lizards, but scientists are
D. have evolved from four-legged lizards, but scientists were

The only difference between B and D is the tense.
B in present whereas D is in past.

When you look at the statement, the scientists are divided, and since it is said that it is an ON-GOING issue, the tense needs to be in present.

Hence, B is the right answer.

I hope you got it.

alivapriyada wrote:
karanrulz4ever wrote:As the debate is ongoing,as indicated in the un-underlined part of the sentence, "are" should be used and not "were".
Hence IMO B
why so???
Any clue???
please explain!!
Join the discussion

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